The Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanic, called on pilgrims, who on Monday gathered in the Marian shrine in Marija Bistrica, to follow the Virgin Mary as a model for the faith and to pray for the Holy Father who the dignitary said had been lately exposed to "unscrupulous attacks" and acts of hatred from the part of the Croatian public.
During his sermon in the shrine, where 40,000 pilgrims gathered to celebrate the Assumption, Cardinal Bozanic called for the unity in the Catholic Church in Croatia and for pryers for "the Holy Father who has in the latest days experienced unscrupulous attacks and unbelievable demonstration of hatred in the part of the Croatian public".
"We must not let an illusion intrude our Church, our homeland and our lives," Bozanic said.
He said that in the recent weeks "we in Croatia have been exposed to the wave of expression of opinions, of taking a stand and of bringing confusion and unsound relations" and therefore he urged the faithful to be committed to the unity.
The visit of Benedict XVI to Croatia (on 4-5 June) was a sign that "God is speaking in our days", the Zagreb Archbishop said.
The Church in Croatia is called to cherish the unity in order to be able to face challenges in the changed social environment, he said calling on the faithful to be integrated into the present-day society which he said was coping with the problem of regarding profit-making as a sacred thing.
In this context he said that the blessed Alojzije Stepinac should be followed as a model for living a saintlike life.
Recalling that the during his stay in Zagreb on 5 June, the Holy Father also pointed out the holy example of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, Bozanic said that following his Christian conscience, Cardinal Stepinac was able to oppose any form of totalitarianism. In the times of the Nazi and fascist dictatorship, he extended a hand to others and he became a protector of the Jews, Orthodox believers and other persecuted people, and in the times of Communism, he was an advocate of his believers, notably of the persecuted and killed priests, the Zagreb Archbishop said.
Thousands of pilgrims crowded into numerous Marian shrines throughout Croatia on Monday, 15 August, when the Catholics observe the Assumption of Mary. It is also a national holiday in Croatia. Cardinals and bishops said masses in major Marian shrines, including, Marija Bistrica, Sinj, Aljmas, Ilaca, Vocinj, Split and Trsat in Rijeka.
The Assumption of Mary was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her life. The Roman Catholic Church teaches as dogma that the Virgin Mary "having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory." This doctrine was dogmatically and infallibly defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950, in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus.
